Testing, testing...

So I've recently acquired a few more beauty products that I'm currently testing out. I have half and half formed opnions already about a few of the products but I'd prefer to test them out a little bit longer to forma completley solid opnion. I did notice that I forgot one skincare product off this list but I'll be sure to mention it in this post anyways.

The Christmas FOTD #4

Merry Christmas to all out there and I hope Santa got you everything you ever wished for! Today thought I'd show you my "Christmas face". Very plain and simple no makeup look.

RiRi Loves Mac Her Cocoa Palette Looks

As I'm sure you all know I got the Her Cocoa Palette last week and I've been playing around with it non stop. Its such a beautiful palette, I had trouble coming to grips with the fact that I actually had to disturb its beauty with my eyeshadow brush in order to actually use it. Now as said before (in this post) this is my first step into the world of Mac and boy is it a good 'un.

RiRi Loves Mac Her Cocoa Palette and 217 Brush

Guess what arrived yesterday?? I was beyond excited with a man with a black box came to drop this off. This will be my first step into the world of MAC and yes it had to be this that I bought...

November Favourites

Who would think that its already the 3rd of December already? This year has flown by at a highly fast pace, hardly even have time to blink without the months just whizzing by. With that said its time for another monthly favourites and it felt as if I had just put up my October favourites just last week.

Catrice Absolute Nude Eyeshadow Palette

The Catrice Absolute Nude eyeshadow palette is such a tricky one for me to be honest. Don't get me wrong the colours are perfect for nude eyes and they are shimmery and matte but the pigment and crumbly-ness of the palette throws me a bit...

Face Of The Day #2

Second FOTD featuring my much raved about Avon Glow Blush and Bronze Duo. Also a new BB cream and concealer thrown in the mix.

The Summer Series: Makeup

Since its soon to be summer in my hemisphere; I thought I should put together a series of blog posts dedicated to what to wear and use during the hot summer weather. I've seperated it all into makeup, skincare, body and hair. This post is the makeup post.

NYX The Runway Collection Eyeshadow

I hope all South Africans enjoyed the extra public holiday yesterday and had a well deserved long weekend but unfortunately we have to get back to reality and start our four day week... Isn't it funny how quickly you form a habit of relaxing and sleeping in late, wasn't it so hard to get out of bed this morning and not be in a bad mood? I all but fell out the bed this morning and on went the heater and kettle while dragging my feet around the house to get ready. Hardest thing I've ever done today truely but anyways I digress...

The NYX Runway Collection eyeshadow in Caviar and Bubbles - R119.95 from Clicks. What a cute name! These colours are the perfect shades for a neutral or smokey eye and come with a nice sized mirror so you can do your makeup on the go and the sleek black packaging is so pretty I could stare at it all day. They range from shimmery colours to a few matte colours and I love that you can mix two colours together to get a really awesome colour and I must say I use every colour except the black - black looks way to harsh on my eyes and makes them look sunken in which is not a great look. I use these to create a very natural barely there look or a subtle smokey eye, I really love all the neutral colours on my eyes, I'm such a sucker for neutral eyeshadows. As you can see from my swatches the last photo shows the bottom row of colours and you can see the bottom row has very pigmented colours while the top row are very subtle with a mix of shimmery and matte but still pigmented enough for a subtle but buildable look. These eyeshadows are very soft and creamy, they spread very well and last throughout the day. They give a nice healthy pop of colour and the shimmery eyeshadows aren't full of glitter, they're more of a soft shine which is great as I really don't suit overly shimmery shades. Over all this is a great palette that offers a wide range of looks and have gone onto my repurchase list.

xxx

Links below:

NYX

Essence Sun Club

This is the Essence eyeshadow in 02 Long Beach and I got it at Dischem for R34.95. These eyeshadows are very glittery but thankfully when they are on your eyes you don't look like a disco ball. I added two photo's of the swatches in as I wanted to show you what they looked like in different light. The first swatches are in day light, you can see they aren't as glittery and some even look matte and are very light against the skin. The second photo is in the dark with just a light camera flash and you can see they show up more and are a lot more glittery. The first four shades on the left of my arm are the top shades of the eyeshadow palette and the four shades on the right of my arm are the bottom of the eyeshadow palette. I can't really use glittery shades as it makes my eyes look funny so don't ask me why I bought this but I actually find it works well with a matte creamy eyeshadow as the base and then work these colours in. They are very creamy and easy to apply but not too pigmented but it's buildable so if you want your eyes to stand out you can add more eyeshadow on and it'll look great! The staying power isn't too great despite the product saying it's long lasting, I found half way through the day I had to add some more in the creases of my eye. An eye primer does help a little bit with making it stay but you still have to add some more. Despite that I think it's a very nice, neutral, affordable palette to have and I find myself reaching for this at least twice a week when I want my eyes to have an extra "pop".

Definitely worth a try!

xxx

Links below:

Essence

My Essence Eye Routine

As you may have noticed I have changed my blog name and address to "dimples and beauty" as it seemed to be more related to the type of posts that I do than my last blog name.

Essence 3-in-1 Concealer



Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow Base

I was putting on my makeup yesterday and I realized that I was using all Essence products so I thought I'd show you how I do my eye makeup using one brand. Firstly I always apply concealer on my eyes. I use the Essence 3-in-1 Concealer. This is real handy as its for 3 uses. The pink to cover dark circles for the eyes and the green to cover any redness and the normal concealer to put over the green and pink. I use my Cala 513 Concealer Brush to apply this and it comes out really well. Next I apply my Essence I Love Stage Eyeshadow Base all over my eyelid. I have very veiny eyes so this hides my veins and makes eyeshadow go on smoothly without creasing it and it makes the eyeshadow last longer. I blend this in with a sponge as I find a brush just doesn't do it.

Essence Eyeshadows from left to right: 35 Party All Night Metallic Effect, 06 Metropolitan Sparkling Effect, 02 Blockbuster Matt Effect

Swatches of Essence Eyeshadows

My eyeshadow brushes from left to right: Mac Eyeshadow Brush, Essence Eyeshadow Brush, Essence Smokey Eye Blender Brush

These eyeshadows are soft and creamy and apply so well. I use no. 02 as an all around eyeshadow for my whole eye. It's a lovely matt, natural colour and its perfect as a base colour and I apply this with my Essence Eyeshadow Brush for this as its a flatter, biggish, softer brush that reaches my whole eye. Next I apply no. 35 eyeshadow in the crease of my eye to create a very subtle smokey eye for during the day. I use my Mac brush to apply this in my crease and then I use my Essence Smokey Eye brush in circular motions to blend it out properly. For a night look I use 06 Metropolitan in the outter corner of eye and in my crease of my eye and blend it in with my smokey eye blender brush. Using my Mac brush I line my upper lash line with whatever colour I am using in the crease of my eye.

I then apply my Essence Multi Action Blackest Black Mascara from root of tip to really lengthen and volumnise my lashes.



As you can see it's an extremely subtle look for the day. I don't like wearing heavy make up during the day, I like it natural :)


So that is basically what I do for my eyes nearly every morning. I stick to the same colours with whatever eyeshadows I'm using. I find with my eye colour being hazel, coloured eyeshadows just don't suit me and in any case I love natural colours.

What do you think of my eye routine?

Do you do anything similar?

xxx